This is what happens when you lock researchers away for too long

Published May 5, 2020

They start to program their robot vacuums to act like some of the Seven Dwarves, and then see how people react to them. Really.

Researchers in the lab of OSU assistant professor of computer science Heather Knight equipped a Neato Botvac vacuum cleaning robot with movement patterns inspired by the personalities of Happy, Sleepy and Grumpy.

So what happened?

True to form, study participants rated Grumpy as the least polite and least friendly, whereas Happy upheld reputation by being rated the friendliest and smartest. Happy and Sleepy were together deemed most polite, though their rating was just above neutral.

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